Tag Archives: Miguel Cabrera

Post navigation

Normally I don’t blog about trades around Major League Baseball, no matter how big they may be — even huge trades like the one that took place Wednesday evening. But this particular trade — though it only included two players — was so complex and intriguing that I couldn’t help but want to post my thoughts on it. It’s one of those blockbuster trades that doesn’t happen all that often.

The Detroit Tigers announced plans yesterday to send Prince Fielder, and thirty million dollars, to the Texas Rangers, in a trade for Ian Kinsler.

While at first glance it would seem that this is a one-sided trade — Fielder is undoubtedly the better hitter — when you take the time to consider every aspect, I see it as being a nearly even deal.

The Tigers were running into a dilemma, having too little money to afford resigning their Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, and it was going to take a deal such as this one to free up enough money to keep him around. (Trading Fielder saves them nearly 100 million dollars.)

While loosing Fielder, who hit 25 home runs and drove in 106 runs in 2013, in return for Kinsler, who hit 13 homers to go along with 71 RBI’s, is a big loss offensively, it gives the Tigers a lot of options defensively for their infield.

Those options include moving Miguel Cabrera back to first base, who doesn’t really have the range for third but had been moved there upon Fielder’s arrival in 2012. The move of Cabrera would free up the position for the Tigers’ number one prospect, Nick Castellanos, who was being converted into an outfielder, but will likely return to his origninal spot. Jose Iglesias will remain at short, with Kinsler taking over at second base.

On the Rangers side of things, they get a big time power hitter, and give up an average hitter who will be replaced by their highly regarded prospect, Jurickson Profar, who had nowhere to go with Kinsler and Elvis Andrus in the mix at second and short stop.

Though the Rangers take on a lot of money for Fielder’s contract — he’s still owed 138 million, after the Tigers paid 30 million of it — they get an everyday player (162 games for four out of the past five seasons) who will be an immediate impact; their first production at first base since Mark Teixeira left in 2007.

Many people still question whether or not the Rangers will attempt to make a run at Robinson Cano. I don’t see it happening, but you never know. They want another bat, but it will more than likely come from a guy such as Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, etc., whom they are reportedly interested in. Cano may end up being a bit out of their comfort zone and price range, especially with it having to come at the cost of losing Andrus at short, where Profar would move, to free up money and space.

In the end, as far as I can see, the Tigers should easily be able to win their division, once again, with their improved infield arrangements. The Rangers, who have been the runner-up to the Athletic’s in the American League West Division the past two seasons, should now have the ability to make the jump to first place in 2014 with the addition of Fielder.

Only time will tell who truly “won” the deal, and how things will pan out.

The Most Valuable Player award was first given out in 1911 to Ty Cobb of the American League and Frank Schulte of the National League. Originally known as the Chalmers award, named after Hugh Chalmers, the award didn’t catch on as well as had been hoped, and therefore was discontinued after the 1914 season.

In 1922 the League Awards were established to honor the baseball player in the American League (National League began being recognized in 1924) who provided the greatest all-around service to their club. The winner — who received a medal and cash for winning — was voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers, with a player not being able to win more than once. Like the Chalmers awards, these awards didn’t last long, stopping in 1929.

Finally in 1931 the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Most Valuable Player award was established, which is the award still given out today.

Sixty-three players who have won the Most Valuable Player award have gone on to the Hall of Fame up until this point — several of those players are still active, however. The current record for most MVP awards is held by Barry Bonds, with seven, but thirty total players have won multiple Most Valuable Player awards in their career.

Voting for the award is fairly straightforward.

Two writers from each city of both the American League and National League make up the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) voters for the Most Valuable Player award, making a total of thirty voters for each league (fifteen teams, with two voters per city). A first place vote earns a player fourteen points, a second place vote gets nine points, a third place vote receives eight points, a fourth place vote is worth seven points, and so on, all the way until tenth place for one point. Once added up, the player with the highest overall total wins.

The 2013 Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award winners for both the American League and National League were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. Here are the winners, along with my thoughts on each:

AMERICAN LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Original Pick: Chris Davis

Finalists: Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis and Mike Trout

Winner: Miguel Cabrera

Thoughts On Miguel Cabrera Winning

Although I was pulling for Mike Trout to win the Most Valuable Player award last season, Miguel Cabrera ended up taking home the honor after having an incredible year in which he won the Triple Crown award. An injury in the last month of this season kept Cabrera from a second straight Triple Crown award, however, it didn’t stop him from winning his second straight MVP — something only eleven other players have been able to accomplish.

Receiving a total of 385 points, 23 of the 30 first-place votes, Cabrera was the overwhelming choice by the voters. The runner-up — with five first-place votes and a total of 282 points — Mike Trout, and the third place recipient, Chris Davis — with a single first-place vote netting 232 total points — weren’t even close. Although I had Chris Davis winning, I have no issues with Cabrera getting the award. He was very deserving; as was Trout.

Batting .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBI’s, Cabrera put together an amazing season, and in addition is the only player of the three finalists to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, that’s a big part of why I feel he won. Davis posted a batting average 62 points lower than Cabrera, but led the majors in both homers and RBI’s, with 53 and 138 respectively. Had the Orioles played better as a whole, making it to the playoffs, Davis would likely be the winner.

Instead, Miguel Cabrera takes home the award for the second straight year.

Anytime a player bats .302 with 36 home runs and 125 RBI’s you have to strongly consider them for the Most Valuable Player award. That player, Paul Goldschimdt, was the most deserving of the MVP award in my mind, however, the baseball writers didn’t agree. Andrew McCutchen received the honor instead, getting 28 of the 30 first-place votes (Goldschmidt didn’t get a single one) for a total of 409 points.

Goldschmidt had to settle for second, with 242 points, just ahead of Yadier Molina, who received the other two first-place votes, earning him a total of 219 points. While Molina had a career year, and is a true leader for the Cardinals, he didn’t do enough to win. It came down to a two-man race between Goldschmidt and McCutchen. But after seeing the results of the vote, I suppose it was just a one-man race.

Although McCutchen hit for a .317 batting average with 21 home runs and 84 RBI’s — second in the National League in multi-hit games, with 60 — I don’t feel he was the most valuable.

I won’t spend a lot of time giving my reasons why (if you want to read that, click HERE) but ultimately I feel many people voted for McCutchen for the sole reason that the Pirates made the postseason (for the first time in 21 years) and Goldschmidt’s Diamondback’s didn’t. That’s not fair to base your vote on, in my opinion.

There were several other great reasons for McCutchen winning the award besides making the playoffs, but I just feel it should have gone to Goldschimdt, who had 15 more home runs and 41 more RBI’s than McCutchen this season.

Also, McCutchen didn’t lead the Pirates to the playoffs by himself; it was a team effort. He hit 10 more home runs and drove in 12 more runs last season than he did this year, yet the Buccos finished fourth in 2012, with McCutchen placing third in MVP voting. There’s too much inconsistency with the voting “criteria” for me.

In the end, while I don’t agree with McCutchen winning, I’m not all that upset that he did; though it may seem that way. He was still deserving despite not having the best stats.

Andrew McCutchen becomes the first Pirates’ MVP winner since Barry Bonds in 1992.

The 2013 Silver Slugger award winners were announced last night on MLB Network. The Silver Slugger awards are given annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball.

The voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage, in addition to coaches’ and managers’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value. (Managers can not vote for their own players.)

This marks the 33rd annual Silver Slugger Awards which began in 1980.

Here are a list of the winners with my thoughts on each:

OUTFIELD

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Bonds holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as an outfielder, with twelve.

The National League saw Michael Cuddyer, Jay Bruce and Andrew McCutchen receiving Silver Slugger awards. All three are deserving, as they had great offensive years. This is just Michael Cuddyer’s first Silver Slugger, despite being in the Majors for thirteen season. Adam Jones also receives his first career Silver Slugger, after batting .285 with 33 homers and 108 RBI’s. In addition, Mike Trout and Torii Hunter pick up the award for the American League after great years.

FIRST BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Todd Helton is tied with Albert Pujols for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a first baseman, with four.

NL Winner-Paul Goldschmidt (1st career)

AL Winner-Chris Davis (1st career)

Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Davis picked up their first career Silver Slugger awards for first base. They both led their respective league in home runs and RBI’s in 2013, so it’s not really a shock that they received the honor. Both have the potential to win more in their careers.

SECOND BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Ryne Sandberg holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a second baseman, with seven.

NL Winner-Matt Carpenter (1st career)

AL Winner-Robinson Cano (5th career)

After a great breakout season, Matt Carpenter won his first career Silver Slugger award on Wednesday. Batting .318 with 13 home runs and 78 RBI’s, Carpenter was a major impact player for the Cardinals this season — a big reason why they made it to the World Series. Robinson Cano picks up his fifth career Silver Slugger, with this being his fourth one in a row.

THIRD BASE

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Wade Boggs holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a third baseman, with eight.

NL Winner-Pedro Alvarez (1st career)

AL Winner-Miguel Cabrera (5th career)

Pedro Alvarez had a career season, leading to his first Silver Slugger award. Though his batting average was a mere .233, Alvarez hit 36 home runs and drove in 100 runs. Alvarez was a big part of the 2013 Pirates team and should remain so for years to come. Miguel Cabrera received the award for the American League, and it’s no surprise at all. Cabrera hit .348 with 44 homers and 137 RBI’s, nearly winning the Triple Crown for a second straight season. Truly remarkable.

SHORT STOP

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Barry Larkin holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a short stop, with nine.

NL Winner-Ian Desmond (2nd career)

AL Winner-J.J. Hardy (1st career)

Ian Desmond won his second consecutive Silver Slugger award last night, as he had another great year. On the AL side, this is J.J. Hardy’s first career Silver Slugger — Derek Jeter won last year but was injured most of 2013 — and he was very deserving. Hardy didn’t have a very high batting average at just .266, however, his 25 home runs and 76 RBI’s put him over the top for the award.

CATCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Piazza holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a catcher, with ten.

NL Winner-Yadier Molina (1st career)

AL Winner-Joe Mauer (5th career)

Surprisingly, this is Yadier Molina’s first career Silver Slugger award, despite multiple good seasons in the past. Molina batted .318 with 12 homers and 80 RBI’s and is a true leader for the Cardinals. As with Molina, Joe Mauer is also a leader for his respective Twins, however, this makes his fifth Silver Slugger of his career; just his first since 2010.

PITCHER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: Mike Hampton holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a pitcher, with five.

Winner-Zack Greinke (1st career)

You don’t often think of a pitcher with offensive skills, but Zack Greinke showed off his, and was the best hitting pitcher this past season. Batting .328 over the course of 58 at-bats, Greinke truly deserves this award and has the ability to win another one in the future.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Most Silver Slugger Awards: David Ortiz holds the record for the most Silver Slugger Awards as a Designated Hitter, with six.

Winner-David Ortiz (6th career)

David Ortiz is the record holder for most career Silver Sluggers as a DH, and he picked up yet another one for this season. Ortiz hit 30 home runs with 103 RBI’s to go along with a .309 batting average. Ortiz was a big reason the Red Sox made it to the World Series, and ultimately led them to winning the Championship.

2013 SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS FAST FACTS

There were nine first time Silver Slugger award winners.

There were six Silver Slugger award winners that also won last year.

The Orioles had the most Silver Slugger winners, with three.

There were four Silver Slugger winners that also won a Gold Glove award this year.

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) award finalists for 2013 Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player were announced Tuesday night on MLB Network. For the most part, I agree with the finalists; but there are a few I’m surprised about.

Here are the finalists, with who I have winning (click their names to find out why):

The winner of each award will be announced next week on MLB Network. Here’s the schedule:

AL & NL Rookie of the Year: November 11th

AL & NL Cy Young: November 13th

AL & NL Most Valuable Player: November 14th

As stated in a previous blog post, I plan on posting a recap of each winner, along with a look at how well I did with my predictions, in a blog entry after each award is officially announced. So be sure to check back for that . . . .

The 2013 MLB Players Choice Awards were announced last night on MLB Network. These awards, as the name would suggest, are voted on by players from around baseball — American League players vote for American League players, with National League players voting for National League players, in most categories — each September, when they receive a ballot to make their pick for each category.

The winning players for each category are awarded a grant from the MLB Players Trust, ranging from 20,000-50,000 dollars depending on the category they win. The money goes to the winners’ choice of charity, with some players deciding to split up the money between multiple causes.

This marks the 21st annual Players Choice Awards, which began in 1992.

Here’s a recap of the winners, with my thoughts on each:

OUTSTANDING ROOKIE AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees-Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias and Wil Myers

AL Winner-Wil Myers

NL Nominees- Shelby Miller, Jose Fernandez and Yasiel Puig

NL Winner-Jose Fernandez

In my opinion, the players got it right. While there were several good candidates from both leagues to win the Outstanding Rookie, none deserved it more than Wil Myers and Jose Fernandez. Myers batted .293 with 13 home runs and 53 RBI’s while Fernandez went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA. Truly incredible inaugural seasons, and I hope the baseball writers pick them for the Rookie of the Year award next week.

OUTSTANDING PITCHER AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees- Anibal Sanchez, Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer

AL Winner-Max Scherzer

NL Nominees- Francisco Liriano, Clayton Kershaw and Jose Fernandez

NL Winner-Clayton Kershaw

There was really no competition here. While every nominee had a great season, both Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw stand above the rest. While Darvish’s 2.83 ERA and 277 strikeouts are impressive, beating out Scherzer in each category, it’s hard to ignore Scherzer’s win-loss record of 21-3. Likewise, it’s hard to ignore Clayton Kershaw’s ERA of 1.83 for the season. Both will likely be named the Cy Young award winners for their respective league.

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees-Scott Kazmir, Victor Martinez and Mariano Rivera

AL Winner-Mariano Rivera

NL Nominees-Marlon Byrd, Francisco Liriano and Troy Tulowtzki

NL Winner-Francisco Liriano

Of the American League nominees, you knew it was going to be Mariano Rivera. There was no way his final season, in which he recorded 44 saves after suffering a season ending injury in 2012, was going to be overlooked. Rivera truly had a comeback year for the ages. On the National League side, Francisco Liriano had a great year, going 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA, however, I thought Troy Tulowitzki deserved the award, after the subpar seasons he’s had lately. But it is what it is.

OUTSTANDING PLAYER AWARD ($20,000)

AL Nominees-Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout and Chris Davis

AL Winner-Miguel Cabrera

NL Nominees-Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and Yadier Molina

NL Winner-Andrew McCutchen

It came down to Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis for me in the AL, as both had amazing years — not to take anything away from Mike Trout. Cabrera ended up receiving the honor, as his batting average of .348 to go along with 44 homers and 137 RBI’s made the hard decision a little easier. Andrew McCutchen won for the NL, and I by no means agree with that. McCutchen had a great year, no doubt about that, but Paul Goldschmidt’s .302 average with league leading 36 home runs and 125 deserves it more.

MARVIN MILLER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD ($50,000)

Nominees-Carlos Beltran, Raul Ibanez and Mariano Rivera

Winner-Mariano Rivera

The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award is given each year to the player most recognized for outstanding on-field performance and off-field contributions to his community. Past winners include Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols and Chipper Jones. This year it went to Mariano Rivera, and I couldn’t think of a better person to receive this award.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD ($50,000)

Nominees-Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis and Clayton Kershaw

Winner- Miguel Cabrera

It’s always difficult to pick between a hitter and a pitcher, as their stats are completely different. Having to choose between a .348 average, in Miguel Cabrera, 53 home runs, in Chris Davis, and a 1.83 ERA, in Clayton Kershaw, makes things even more complicated. But the players went with Cabrera, and I can’t argue against that. This is the second straight season Cabrera has been named player of the year by the players. In addition, it was announced that Miguel Cabrera will be the new cover player for MLB 14 The Show. Not a bad year for Cabrera.

After nearly getting no-hit, and striking out 17 times, in Game 1 of the American League Championship series on Saturday night, the Red Sox went into Sunday’s game looking to redeem themselves in a pivotal Game 2. Though the Red Sox have done some amazing things in the past — coming back from a 3 game deficit to the Yankees in 2004, to go onto win the World Series — you had to figure that this game was a must win for them the way they’ve been playing lately.

But it wasn’t looking too promising for the Sox early on.

The Tigers came out swinging, putting up a quick five runs. In addition, Max Scherzer was dominant to start the game, as he has been all season long, going 5.2 innings before allowing a hit; a single to Shane Victorino. Dustin Pedroia promptly drove him in, however, for the Sox’ first run of the series, taking their early deficit from five to four runs.

From there, the Red Sox strung together multiple hits in the eighth to load the bases for David Ortiz. As he has done time and time again throughout his career, Ortiz came through, blasting a game tying grand slam into the bullpen.

The Red Sox would go onto win the game in the ninth inning, on a walk-off RBI single from Jarrod Saltalamacchia — truly making this one of the best games in recent postseason history.

Although the Red Sox face a difficult road, going up against Justin Verlander in game three on Tuesday, if Sunday night’s game taught us anything it’s that the Red Sox have the ability to come through no matter how bad the odds seem to be against them.

Choosing the Most Valuable Player from each league is the most difficult decision of all the major baseball awards handed out at the conclusion of each season. With Rookie of the Year and Cy Young, you can look solely at which player had the better stats, however, Most Valuable Player involves a bit more than just stats. While it’s important that a MVP winner had a great statistical year, the best offensive player doesn’t automatically become the most valuable, in my opinion.

As far as I view things, MVP has to come from a team that had a decent year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their team had to make the playoffs. Contrary to what many believe, I feel the Most Valuable Player award needs to go to a player on a team that helped their team win the most, regardless of a postseason appearance. Remove them from the lineup and the team would be nowhere near the same.

Therefore, after considering the stats and going over a few other of my “requirements”, I narrowed down my top candidates for American League MVP to Mike Trout, Adrian Beltre, Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera.

The shockers of those names are probably Beltre and Trout, but I feel they should at the very least be in the conversation. I acknowledge that they didn’t have seasons anywhere near that of Davis or Cabrera, but they had an impact on their respective teams nonetheless. However, although I wrote them in as considerations for the award, I didn’t go with either of them in the end.

After taking several days to think about who most deserves the award for Most Valuable Player, I had to go with Chris Davis.

Though not the popular choice, especially over Miguel Cabrera, Davis had an incredible year. And although the Orioles didn’t make the postseason, he was the Most Valuable Player from the American League as far as I’m concerned — providing the greatest impact of any American League player for their team on any given night.

Chris Davis set the Orioles’ single-season home run record, as well as extra base hits record, this past season, blasting 53 homers and recording 96 extra base knocks. In addition, Davis drove in 138 runs to go along with a .286 batting average, and ultimately gave the Orioles a chance to win every single game, no matter who they were facing. He was an extremely valuable piece to their puzzle.

His competition, Miguel Cabrera, had another incredible year, batting .348 with 44 homers and 137 RBI’s. Had Cabrera been able to stay healthy throughout the entire season, subsequently giving him slightly better stats, he would probably be my choice for MVP. But while he had another Triple Crown worthy year — just getting beat out by Davis in HR’s and RBI’s — and played for a team that made the playoffs, he wasn’t the most valuable player from the American League.